Shark brains are similar to humans: scientists

Researchers at the University of Western Australia (UWA) found that sharks and other cartilaginous fish have highly developed sensory systems and relatively large brains.

A special edition of the journal Brain, Behaviour and Evolution focuses on research about the brains of sharks and other cartilaginous fish, including rays and sawfish.

Editor Kara Yopak from UWA's Oceans Institute said the studies suggested people may have more in common with sharks than previously thought, the AAP News Agency reported.

Yopak said sharks and their relatives represented the earliest jawed vertebrates.

"Despite broad divergence, there are a number of common features of the brain that evolved at least as early as cartilaginous fishes and persist across all vertebrates," she said.

"For instance, one of the papers shows that with great white sharks, the area of the brain that receives visual input is quite large, and suggests the relative importance of vision in these animals is quite high," she said.

"This information may direct researchers' efforts towards targeting the visual system when developing repellants for sharks," she added.

Another paper suggested the cerebellum - which controlled motor movement and appeared first in early sharks - was an important evolutionary advancement that led to aspects of higher neural function in vertebrates including humans, Yopak said.